’Black women were once at the center of black men's lives, as wives, mothers,
lovers and partners' However, in this generation, black women have become
somewhat of a nuisance, a burden, and perhaps even a pariah in black men's
lives’

For the first time ever, large and growing numbers of black men have the option
to ask what they perceive to be a legitimate question: Are black women
necessary?

This book is not only going to deal with the question ’Are black women
necessary?’ It will also take a look at the broader question of why black men
are looking for something they think is outside black women.’’Excerpted from the Introduction (pages 2-8)

Did you know that Brazil, the country with the largest concentration of
people of African descent in the Western hemisphere, has become the favorite
vacation destination of a rapidly-increasing number of professional black men?
Apparently, they’re flocking to Rio de Janeiro for more than a little rest and
relaxation on a sun-drenched beach.

The country is now also a popular port of call with bourgie brothers due to the
easy availability of beautiful Brazilian women (’Halle Berry on steroids’) who
don't have the attitude or emotional baggage they generally find attached to
sisters back at home. Some of them describe attaining ’a level of physical and
sexual intimacy, a sort of sexual healing, that they see as lacking in many of
their current relationships with black women.’ Consequently, they don't mind
having to venture to Rio de Janeiro repeatedly for ’an experience that they
think are denied them by black women in America.’

We have Jewel Woods and Pulitzer Prize-winner Karen Hunter to thank for blowing
the covers off this clandestine sex trade currently flourishing in Brazil. For
these two investigative journalists interviewed dozens of the peripatetic
African-American men, many leading double lives, in preparation for co-writing
Blame It on Rio, a rather revealing look at an emerging cultural phenomenon,.

And exactly why is this generation of black men with money so fond of Brazilian
women? The authors blame a variety of contributing factors. First, the fact that
they grew up watching hip-hop music on BET which groomed them to expect a
rainbow coalition of gorgeous models eager to satisfy. And that utopian fantasy
is just a plane ride away, since ’Going to Rio is like walking into a rap video:
scantily clad women, gyrating and fawning over every man in sight.’

Another factor is addressed by an African-American physician who found salvation
in Rio from sisters' bad attitudes in the States. He asks point blank, ’Where
else in the world is a black woman's attitude accepted as the social norm,
except in America?’

Next, the issue of anger is raised, with the observation that, ’In complete
contrast to the warm and affectionate demeanor of Latin American women, the most
prominent characteristic of black women is anger.’ Here, Woods and Hunter again
blame the entertainment industry for causing black men to view their women with
contempt by perpetuating the mammy stereotype by having ’Tyler Perry, Martin
Lawrence and Eddie Murphy ’ put on a fatsuit and a dress to solidify ’the image
of the fat, loud, rude black woman.’

Other chapters explore widespread rejection of black women over their frigidity,
obesity and Christianity. The participants in the project are so relentless and
rabid on their indictment of the African-American female, I couldn't help but
pause periodically to wonder whether this was all a joke, since I've never
previously heard anyone mention Rio as a sexual retreat.

Despite all of the dissing, the authors are ultimately optimistic about black
male-female relationships, though they suggest that professional brothers are in
dire need of an extreme makeover. They close with a list of ’Ten Things Black
Women Need and Want,’ including understanding and truth.

A controversial expose’ about a shocking trend likely to divide and devastate
the Hip Hop Generation along gender lines in the absence of constructive
conversation capable of paving the path to honesty and reconciliation.